The execution of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru by India casts doubts over the future of an Indian prisoner Sarabjit Singh, who has been held in Pakistan for over two decades.

Guru was convicted for his role in plotting the December 13, 2001, attack on Parliament House, in which 10 people were killed when five armed terrorists stormed into the complex. Hundred MPs, then prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and his cabinet ministers were inside.

The Express Tribune quoted Indian prisoner Sarabjit's sister Dalbeer Kaur, as saying that the family now feared that Guru's execution will heighten tensions between the countries and Sarabjit might never be allowed to come back to India.

Kaur said that both the countries should act wisely and Pakistan should not respond hastily. She added that both the governments had released prisoners in the past, which should be continued to overcome the trust deficit between the states.

Kaur deemed the execution inhumane, pledging to protest against the Indian government's decision to hang Guru. She said that had Guru's case been thoroughly investigated, he would not have been hanged, adding that there were serious discrepancies in the investigations.

She said that in cases such as these the accused are usually given a benefit of doubt but in the case of India and Pakistan, these accused persons are only tried as citizens of an enemy state.

She termed Guru's hanging a "murder on behalf of the government".

Meanwhile, Sarabjit's counsel Advocate Awais Sheikh maintained that the Indian government did not hang Guru on the pretext that he was a Pakistani. He added that since Guru was a Kashmiri the right wing parties of Pakistan should not demand Sarabjit to be hanged as a response to Guru's execution. (ANI)